About us

Dar 91 is located in Chbanat – a sleepy, mostly residential quarter of the medina that is dotted with tiny weaving, carpentry and other workshops. Whereas many parts of town have modernised hugely in recent years, Chbanat retains a special and authentic charm.

We discovered Essaouira in 2005 and opened Dar 91 in 2006. The house was built as one of four ‘watchtowers’ in the medina, to keep an eye on raids from the forest, which used to extend up to the medina wall.

Working with local builders, artisans and artists to create the apartments has been a passion project. We have welcomed guests from all over the world, doing our best to share with them our love for this corner of Morocco and its people. We achieve consistently high ratings in online guest reviews.

We operate as a registered Moroccan company, filing accounts annually and paying all taxes, fair wages and national insurance contributions for our staff (depressingly unusual for European-owned guest houses).

We give 5% of our profits to local charities and neighbours who need help.

Swipe left to see more photos of Chbanat

  • Chbanat feet
  • Chbanat gnaoui
  • Chbanat sign
  • Chbanat Kreggy
  • Chbanat haik
  • Chbanat barrow
  • Chbanat houses
  • Chbanat women
  • Chbanat fruit shop
  • Chbanat cats
  • Chbanat doors
  • Chbanat paraboles
  • Chbanat door
  • Chbanat feet
  • Chbanat gnaoui
  • Chbanat sign
  • Chbanat Kreggy
Far better than a riad, where you’ve got no privacy at all - we loved being able to close ourselves away but still peep out through the shutters and see life going on from a distance.